The use of wood, concrete, steel, and other conventional materials in manufacturing and construction has an adverse impact on the natural environment, both through natural resource depletion, recalcitrance in landfills, and greenhouse gas emissions. Consequently, researchers have been motivated to seek and develop more environmentally benign and preferably biodegradable alternatives. One avenue of research is to develop renewable biocomposite materials that can be biodegraded after taken out of service and used as feedstock to grow material components for new construction, completing the biotransformation cycle. There are, however, several challenges of this approach. First, it is desirable that the renewable materials have structural-grade properties, and that these properties do not degrade after each cycle. Second, it is important that the biotransformation cycle is fast and energy efficient. Third, the various stages of the biotransformation cycle should be inexpensive and easy to implement. Unfortunately, existing biocomposites and their associated biotransformation cycles do not satisfy these criteria as well as desired.